NASCAR announced before the season that it will standardize at-track team rosters across all three national series in 2018, providing a structure for the number of personnel working on each vehicle during the course of a race weekend.
Official team rosters for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) have been released. Click the print icon above, or the link below.
Editor’s note: Fantasy Fastlane will look at each race from a fantasy perspective, examining the top plays as well as several under-the-radar options and a play to avoid for NASCAR Fantasy Live. See the full analysis here.
YORK TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Toyota Racing Development’s presence runs deep in Detroit.
And prior to action at Michigan International Speedway this weekend, drivers Erik Jones, Noah Gragson and Todd Gilliland had a chance to see just how deep when they toured Toyota Motor North America Research & Development on Thursday.
Spanning 700 acres with 1,718 employees, the R&D facility is home to Toyota’s North American technical center, focusing on engineering design, engine unit design, prototype development, vehicle evaluation and more. Well before Toyotas hit the street and the race track, the first steps of exploration, development and testing are taken a little over 40 miles outside of the Motor City.
The drivers toured the 180,000 square foot Safety Test Facility and saw presentations by high-ranking Toyota officials about various projects and technologies related to the sport. The best part? At least for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Jones, it was when he pressed the button in the crash-testing room that launched a Toyota Highlander into a barrier at roughly 30 mph.
Photo courtesy of Toyota Racing
“The coolest part for me is the crash test,” said Jones, driver of the No. 20 Toyota in the Monster Energy Series. “The automotive world, as much as we’re connected to it, we don’t get to see the behind-the-scenes stuff more than once or twice a year. It’s cool to see the projects they have coming down the pipeline.”
For Gilliland, the vastness of the facility was something he wasn’t fully aware of prior to visiting the facility.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to visit the Toyota headquarters in Plano, Texas, so to see all of the development that goes on up here that goes all over the world is pretty cool,” Gilliland said.
He added one small request: “Hopefully we can build some more stuff to make our race cars go fast.”
With a new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, a revamped driver lineup and restructuring of the physical layout of his organization, team owner Rick Hendrick expected a few bumps in the road in 2018.
What he didn’t expect, however, was a 21-race wait before Hendrick Motorsports broke through for its first win of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series campaign with Sunday’s thriller of a win for Chase Elliott at Watkins Glen International.
“I was getting ready to sweat this year,” Hendrick told NASCAR.com on Thursday, referencing the organization’s streak of 33 consecutive years with a trip to Victory Lane.
But, as the long-time owner pointed out, this drought may have simply been a tribulation through which the team will emerge stronger and more focused on winning and growing as a complete organization from top to bottom.
“It’s that winning attitude, and sometimes going through tough times will make you better,” Hendrick said. “I think we just refused to quit and kept digging and were willing to share, willing to learn and willing to try something different.”
Now that Elliott’s first career win — and that elusive, historic 250th win as an organization — have been secured, the vibe around the shop is tangible and infectious.
“It’s got everybody on their toes celebrating,” Hendrick said. “It’s been a little bit of a drought for us. Just walking around the campus, you see everybody smiling and ringing the victory bell. It’s a real uplifting deal because we’ve kind of struggled this year.
“A win will do a lot for an organization. We’ve had some droughts before, but we’ve also had times where we’ve won four championships back-to-back in the 90s, and five championships with Jimmie and 17 races in a year. But we’ve got a new car, we had a shift in the way we organize our company and putting everybody in one place, all the engineers and crew chiefs. That was a change. …
“I look at where we are now and where we started, and it’s night and day. I feel real good about it, I think we’ve built a foundation for the future and we’ve just gotta keep digging a little bit better every week. That’s our goal.”
With the foundation for the future now in place and trending upward, Hendrick took a moment to reflect on those that laid the bricks for the organization throughout its rich history and humble beginnings.
The history books will deeply show the impact drivers and crew chiefs such as Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus have had on Hendrick Motorsports. But when an organization has won with 17 different drivers and 24 different crew chiefs on 26 different tracks, according to Hendrick, surely there will be unsung heroes among them.
“I have to go back to Harry Hyde,” Hendrick said of the NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee. “When we started, Harry would tell me ‘Man, if somebody would give me a chance, I could do this.’
“Harry was renting me 5,000 square feet. He was renting me the tools, the gears, transmissions and he only took $500 a week as a crew chief. We had five people when we started and two of them were volunteers. And we won three races that year (1984). Try to do that now. Impossible. I have to give Harry a shout out for being willing to put everything on the line, and then Geoff Bodine, to take a chance and get in the car with an unproven team … If it weren’t for those two guys, we wouldn’t be talking today. There wouldn’t be a Hendrick Motorsports.”
Two hundred and fifty wins later, HMS is among NASCAR’s elite, with a future as bright as it has ever had ahead.
Perhaps it took one intentional step back to recalibrate with all of its fresh changes over the offseason, but it’s starting to pay dividends — Elliott has been among the strongest drivers this summer, and Johnson, Alex Bowman and William Byron appear ready to follow.
As it goes, one step back, two steps forward.
“I didn’t think it was going to be as tough as it was when we started, for sure, but the thing that really excites me is how our folks dug in and said ‘We refuse to run like this, we refuse to lose. We’re going to get better,’ ” Hendrick said.
“… We’re getting smarter with the car. And again, the way we restructured the company, we’re getting smarter together and we’re working really tight and close together and I’m just as proud as I am of the win, I’m as proud the organization didn’t buckle when things got tough. They just worked harder and its starting to pay off,” he said.
“We’re not there yet and we’ve got a ways to go, but this sure feels good.”
DEARBORN, Mich. — Tony Stewart climbed into a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car Thursday for the first time since 2016. He fired the Mustang up, stepped on the gas, and felt the car roar to life underneath him. Alas, he never got out of second gear as he drove from Ford’s Flat Rock plant to the world headquarters in Dearborn.
Slow as that entry might have been, he got an ovation from the hundreds of fans on hand when he arrived at “Mustang Victory Circle” anyway, as Ford unveiled the Mustang that will compete in 2019 at the highest level of American motorsports for the first time.
Blue and white confetti rained down as Stewart climbed from the car. All of the Monster Energy Series Ford drivers took in the scene seeing what awaits them for the 2019 campaign.
“The car guy in me wants to look at the lines and how sexy it is,” said Clint Bowyer, who drives for Stewart-Haas Racing. The NASCAR driver in him, Bowyer said, tries to figure out how fast it will be, and where engineers and crew chiefs will push to make it even faster.
“You put in the due diligence, put in the effort, in the hope it will perform better, obviously,” he said. “It’s like everything in life. You put your blood, sweat and tears into it. But you really don’t know until you go out and line her up and see what she does. With the technology and everything we have in today’s day and age, we think it’ll be bigger and better than we’ve ever had.”
This was a big week for the Mustang, Ford’s oldest car and the world’s best-selling sports coupe. In addition to the NASCAR news Thursday, the 10 millionth Mustang rolled off the assembly plant in Flat Rock on Wednesday. Mark Rushbrook, global director for Ford’s motorsports activities, tried to push it one step further, jokingly asking Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s executive vice president and chief racing development officer, if the Mustang could run in Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 race at Michigan International Speedway (at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The Mustang has a long history in racing. Its first race was in 1964, when it was a surprise winner of the Tour de France Automobile, a 10-day, 4,000-mile suffer fest. The Mustang has also competed in SCCA, Trans-Am, IMSA, NHRA, Formula Drift and NASCAR Xfinity (since 2011). But it has never competed at NASCAR’s highest level. That will change next year when it debuts in the Daytona 500 on Feb. 17, 2019.
The Cup-level Mustang is the result of collaboration between NASCAR, Ford performance and design teams and NASCAR teams that field entries for the famed blue oval. Designers and engineers worked hard to create a car that will be both competitive and remain true to its heritage.
Jack Roush, owner of Roush Fenway Racing, knows plenty about both. He has fielded Fords for his entire career, which includes 3,565 races, 137 wins and two championships at the Cup level. He ordered his first Mustang in 1964 — within 30 days of the new sports car’s debut on the market. Thirty days after that, he had a job inspecting Mustangs as they came off the assembly line. Nobody in NASCAR has such a tight connection to one model.
“Mustang is a river that has run through me,” he said.
One day in the late 1960s, he took his Mustang for a ride headed south on I-75 from his home near Detroit. He looked up and saw police lights. He pulled over, and the police officer approached his car.
“He told me I was ‘outclassing’ the traffic today,” Roush said. “I thought it meant I had a better car, so I considered that as a compliment.”
Roush again hopes his Mustangs outclass the field in 2019. But not in the same way. That Mustang — it was a blue 1964 that Roush drove until it had 100,000 miles on it — was, indeed, a better car. But that’s not what the police officer meant. He meant Roush was speeding and wrote him a ticket.
CONCORD, N.C. – To ease weather-related worries about buying NASCAR race tickets, Speedway Motorsports, Inc. today announced a Fans First initiative that will have fans ‘singing in the rain’.
The Speedway Motorsports Weather Guarantee provides race fans the ultimate assurance in their NASCAR ticket investment. As part of the company’s new weather policy, if a NASCAR race is postponed due to weather and the ticket holder is unable to attend on the rescheduled date, a ticket credit can be issued toward a qualifying NASCAR race at any Speedway Motorsports venue. This initiative is valid for Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway.
“Of all major professional sports, none is as heavily impacted by adverse weather as NASCAR,” said Speedway Motorsports’ President and CEO Marcus Smith. “With drivers already racing on the very edge at nearly 200 mph, even a little rain can have a dramatic impact on race weekend schedules. What we want to do is take weather out of the ticket-buying equation so fans can focus on having a great time and making memories on our premier NASCAR event weekends.”
Fans with an unused, eligible ticket will have 60 days from the original race date to request a ticket credit on a qualifying future event. The credit must be used toward another Speedway Motorsports’ NASCAR event within one calendar year of the original race date or the same event the following year, even if it takes place beyond the one-year mark. Certain restrictions may apply. Click here for further details on the Speedway Motorsports Weather Guarantee.
Want to know what it’s like to watch a race with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the NASCAR on NBC personalities?
Well, this Saturday you are in luck as Earnhardt and his NBC pals will take in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and the @Xfinity handle will be live streaming it for your enjoyment.
In his first year with NBC, Earnhardt has brought a unique energy to the booth with his excitement and passion for racing. We can only imagine how much fun will be had in this setting.
This is the second road-course race in a four-race stretch for the series, which will shape the playoff picture until the regular season ends at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Sept. 15 at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App).
Erik Jones became the latest driver Wednesday to unveil his throwback scheme for Labor Day weekend’s event at Darlington Raceway — and this one hits close to the heart of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team.
Jones will pilot a Sport Clips scheme inspired by his spotter, Rick Carelli, who has spotted for Jones since last year. The 22-year-old driver showed Carelli the scheme in a video unveiling the look.
“Sport Clips let us pick our scheme this year, so I was trying to figure out what I was going to do so we decided to find a good throwback to you,” Jones told Carelli in the video.
During his driving career, Carelli made 145 starts in all three of NASCAR’s major series from 1992 to 2003, earning four victories and 60 top-10 finishes in the Camping World Truck Series. He’s also won nine races in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. The Arvada, Colorado, native was inducted in the Colorado Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2011.
“That scheme means a lot to me,” Carelli said in the video. “It’s going to be something that’s going to be pretty exciting to see for myself and all the fans in the past that used to watch that truck roll around there.”
Off the track, Carelli is known for his signature hair style — something Jones and his former mullet can relate to — and he and Jones have a special bond with one another.
Nearly four months after Ford Performance announced it would bring the company’s iconic Mustang to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2019, the official unveil is here.
On Thursday at noon ET, Ford will metaphorically pull the cover off its latest body style. The event will be live-streamed on both NASCAR.com and NASCAR’s Facebook page, so make sure to tune in at that time. The teaser video above should get you ready! | Watch the live stream here
It will be Ford’s fourth different Monster Energy Series model since the modern era began in 1972 — the Mustang will follow the Thunderbird, Taurus and Fusion, the current model.
The move follows similar decisions from fellow manufacturers Toyota and Chevrolet, which changed their body styles significantly over the past two years. Chevrolet introduced the Camaro ZL1 into the Monster Energy Series this year.
Ford has used the Mustang in the NASCAR Xfinity Series since 2011.
In her diverse and thriving career, Katherine Legge has raced GT cars, IndyCars, and IMSA sports cars. She’s competed in the Indianapolis 500 and stood on the podium in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
And this weekend the popular and talented Brit will make her NASCAR debut in the Xfinity Series’ Rock n Roll Tequila 170 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (Saturday, 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Then she’ll return two weeks later to compete — alongside NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott — at the Xfinity road-course race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
If it were up to Legge, should she secure sponsorship she’ll gladly return to NASCAR in September to compete in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.
First, however, there is Mid-Ohio — where she will steer the No. 15 JD Motorsports Chevrolet in her stock-car debut.
“What I’d really like to do, is do a couple of these races and hopefully learn and hopefully have done a good job and hopefully raise some money and do the ROVAL race at the end of the year,” Legge said. “I know that’s going to be a tall order, but I have my eyes on more that’s for sure.”
Legge’s background and current job competing in IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series have provided lots of opportunity to know other former and current NASCAR drivers — all of whom have encouraged her to take this next step in her career.
Andy Lally, the 2011 Monster Energy Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year, is a good friend and former teammate. NASCAR competitor Justin Marks is currently a teammate on the Meyer Shank Racing GTD class team Legge drives for full-time in IMSA.
She has a win (at Belle Isle-Detroit) and four podium finishes so far this season in IMSA and is ranked second in the GTD class driver’s standings. Last year, her first with the Acura NSX GT3 program, she and co-driver Lally had two wins, four podiums and a pole.
“I’m really lucky that I have some really good friends in racing,” Legge said this week. “I’ve always wanted to do NASCAR, but (over the years) some friends said, ‘No not now,’ because it wasn’t the right team or right series.
“Andy Lally actually helped put this two-race deal together. … It’s going to start me off a little more low key and get the experience in driving a stock car. I’m really excited and nervous.
“I’m lucky I have Andy, and AJ Allmendinger is a friend of mine and Justin Marks, my teammate in IMSA. So I’ve got some really cool people to ask advice of, so I’m lucky for that.”
Looking at her racing resume, the top-shelf credentials are certainly there for 38-year-old Legge. Now, she concedes, she needs time behind the wheel in a stock car. Her first laps in practice this weekend will be her first laps ever in a stock car. As for knowing the track, she finished runner-up in the GTD class at Mid-Ohio in the IMSA race there earlier this season.
“Andy (Lally) and I are planning on watching some previous races and going over things this week,” Legge said. “But that’s the extent of it. I haven’t been able to test, I haven’t been able to get on the simulator. But the team is so professional and so good, hopefully they will help me through it.”
Legge left open the option of making more NASCAR starts in the future — perhaps beyond even road-course venues. In fact, for all her good work on road courses, she scored a ninth-place finish in the Verizon IndyCar Series oval race at Fontana, California (2012), which is also a NASCAR venue.
“I love oval racing, ever since I got the opportunity to drive an IndyCar on an oval,” Legge said. “It’s something I love doing. … If the opportunity came up, I’d love to, it would be a dream come true. My bread and butter has been sports cars for years. We’ll see. I just want to get through Mid-Ohio first.”
